The Brazilian government takes free wireless Internet to a Rio de Janeiroslum as part of an experiment they plan to extend to other favelas.

SHOWS:RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)1. WIFI BROADCAST ANTENNAS WITH CHRIST THE REDEEMER STATUE INBACKGROUND2. GENERAL VIEW OF SANTA MARTA SLUM 3. CHILD HANGING A BLANKET FROM BALCONY4. TRAM CAR USED BY RESIDENTS TO REACH TOP OF SLUM5. CHILDREN USING PUBLIC COMPUTERS INSIDE SLUM6. CLOSE OF WIFI RECEIVER ANTENNAS7. CLOSE OF SLUM WIFI PROJECT NAME ON COMPUTER SCREEN8. CLOSE OF BOY'S HAND ON MOUSE9. CLOSE OF BOY'S FACE10. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) 11-YEAR-OLD SLUM RESIDENT, WILLIAM MACHADO,SAYING: "I access Orkut (networking website), many things, schoolresearch…"11. VARIOUS OF WILLIAM MACHADO USING COMPUTER12. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) RIO DE JANEIRO'S SECRETARY OF SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY, RUBENS ANDRADE, SAYING: "We did some research and found out that Santa Marta is mostlikely the largest community with (free) WiFi internet in the world. Thisshows the state of Rio, Brazil, is a leader in democratizing internetaccess."13. VARIOUS OF SLUM RESIDENT, THIAGO FIRMINO, WALKING THROUGH SLUM WITH HISLAPTOP COMPUTER14. SLUM RESIDENT, THIAGO FIRMINO, USING HIS LAPTOP15. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) SLUM RESIDENT, THIAGO FIRMINO, SAYING: "It's not like it's a bogeyman. It's something we now have. It'ssomething we imagined only rich people, people with money had, and we now sawthat it isn't, that it is something simple that we can now benefit from. It'slike we now have one foot out the door. We can access the world."16. SLUM HOUSES 17. RESIDENTS IN SLUM ALLEYWAY18. GENERAL VIEW OF SLUM WITH SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN IN THE BACKGROUND19. GIRL OBSERVING SLUM FROM ROOFTOP20. HOUSE WITH CHRIST THE REDEEMER STATUE IN BACKGROUND21. SLUM HOUSES SEEN FROM TRAM CAR

STORY: The nearly 10,000 residents of the Santa Marta slum in Rio deJaneiro can now navigate the Internet from any spot on the steep maze ofshacks that lies under the Christ the Redeemer statue. The $218,000-dollar free WiFi project is part of a wider experimentalprogram launched by Rio's state government in late 2008 to transform thecity's violent favelas. In November, the police invaded the Santa Marta community, drove outthe Red Command drug gang and surprised residents by staying in the slum,starting a plan they intend to expand to other slums. According to government officials, unlimited Internet access will alsobe offered in other poor areas such as the famed City of God and Rocinhaslums. Sitting in a small room set up at the community's entrance, 11-year-oldWilliam Machado checked his emails and did research for a school project onone of the eight computers installed by the government. "I access Orkut (networking website), many things, schoolresearch…," he said. The sixteen WiFi antennas distributed throughout the hillside communityare likely to improve the life of a population once muzzled by drug war. Rio's Secretary of Science and Technology, Rubens Andrade, said Brazilwas leading global efforts to democratize Internet access. "We did some research and found out that Santa Marta is mostlikely the largest community with (free) WiFi internet in the world. Thisshows the state of Rio, Brazil, is a leader in democratizing internetaccess," he said. But the latest figures from the government's statistic agency show thatnearly 60 percent of the South American country's population has never hadaccess to the Internet. And for the millions who live in Rio's crime-ridden slums, freebroadband connection is far from being a top concern. Thiago Firmino, one of the few Santa Marta residents who owns a laptop,said wireless broadband seemed out of reach for the favela and that theinitiative took him by surprise. "It's not like it's a bogeyman. It's something we now have. It'ssomething we imagined only rich people, people with money had, and we now sawthat it isn't, that it is something simple that we can now benefit from. It'slike we now have one foot out the door," he said, while chatting withfriends online. But the government's plan to drive out drug gangs and offer freeInternet connection still faces major challenges. The German complex and manyof Rio's nearly 1,000 other slums are far bigger and less contained than thehillside Santa Marta, and the police suffer from a lack of training andresources.